UFC Fight Night 37 Live Coverage – Damn, it’s Early

Welcome to the UFC Fight Night 37: Kim vs. Hathaway live coverage, which, thanks to the joys of the UFC Fight Pass online subscription service, is coming to you live from Macau at 8am EST (and that’s for the main card – no way was I waking up at 6:20am to give you coverage of the prelims). Anyway, UFC Fight Night 37 features “The Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim versus long-lost Brit John Hathaway in a five-round main event, plus Matt Mitrione, Ivan Menjivar and a bunch of Asian dudes who neither you nor I have ever heard of. Also, supposedly it’s the finale for the first season of TUF: China, but I’ve never seen any real evidence that that TV show actually occurred. Enjoy the play-by-play and keep hitting “refresh”.

Prelim results:

Mark Eddiva def. Jumabieke Tuerxun via Unanimous Decision

Wang Anying def. Albert Cheng via TKO (Doc Stoppage) at 5:00, R1

Vaughan Lee def. Nam Phan via Unanimous Decision

Yui Chul Nam def. Kazuki Tokudome via Split Decision

Main card results:

Hatsu Hioki vs. Ivan Menjivar

Round 1: Sporting a serious height and reach advantage, Hioki starts off trying to keep Menjivar at the end of his jab and front kick. But Menjivar catches a foot and throws him down, and a quick scramble suddenly has the Japanese Shooto champ on the El Salvadorean-by-way-of-Canada fighter’s back. It takes a little work for Menjivar to escape, yet he does, and they play the man-hug game against the fence for about a minute. With about a minute and a half left in the round, Hioki gets the trip, and is soon passing his foe’s guard, taking his back, and totally flubbing an armbar attempt. The horn sounds with the two trading positions on the ground.

I give Round 1 to Hioki based solely on his positional control.

Round 2: The first two minutes of this frame see them peck at each other with single strikes mixed with clinch work. But Hioki manages another outside trip and soon is on Menjivar’s back and swiveling into an armbar. Menjivar escapes, has to escape a triangle choke attempt, and when he grabs a hold of his opponent’s neck, Hioki reverses him with another takedown. Another guard pass and two things becomes clear: Hioki has got a better top game, and he can’t sink armbars worth a damn.

Hioki takes Round 2.

Round 3: They start off the round doing the same probing, half-hearted striking exchanges, and then WHAM! Menjivar clocks Hioki in the noggin with an overhand right. Hioki falls to his butt, and a cut opens up over his right eye and starts gushing. The cobwebs are soon cleared from the Japanese fighter’s head though, and they go back to throwing one-off kicks and punches. With about 30 seconds left Hioki hits the takedown, and the horn sounds with Menjivar going for a heelhook.

Round 1: It takes only about two seconds for the two to starting winging bolos at each other, and since they’re about equal in terms of boxing skill and aggressive nature, their hate rate is pretty much one for one. The pace slows just a little bit in the latter half of the round, but after some brief time against the cage – and in the waning seconds of the frame – Mitrione flurries hard, penetrating Jordan’s defenses and sending him slumping to the canvas. The official time of the knockout is 4:59.

Round 1: Supposedly these guys are the finalists of TUF China, but I have yet to see convincing evidence that the series actually happened, so we’ll just assume these are just two dudes fighting.

For the first two and a half minutes, the two men throw kicks and punches like they’re desperately afraid of getting hit. But then Lipeng gets the takedown and slips onto Wang’s back, and the action kicks into a higher gear. Lipeng comes perilously close to sinking a rear naked choke, yet Wang guts it out and reverses so he’s in Lipeng’s guard. Soon Wang is in back-mount hunting for a choke, and then they’re scrambling and Wang is back on top when the horn sounds.

I’d give the round to Wang for being slightly more dominant on the ground.

Round 2: Lipeng sees that his fortunes lie on the ground, so he commences his struggle to get the fight there. He’s moderately successful too, although at one point Wang whomps him with an illegal knee. The referee gives Wang a warning that neither fighters probably understands. Lipeng then tosses Wang to the canvas twice and nearly takes his back, but Wang’s escapes are money (yen?) and he ends up on top again as the horn signals the end of the round.

Round 2 goes to Lipeng for his slightly more effective grappling.

Round 3: Wang comes into the frame with a bit more vim and vigor, and he uses it to wilt Lipeng ever so slightly. From crisper strikes to more active grappling to just simple aggression, Wang controls and threatens while Lipeng seems to be one step behind. The round ends with Lipeng failing to get his opponent down and Wang grabbing him from behind.

Official result: Zhang Lipeng def. Wang Sai via Split Decision

Lipeng is your TUF China Season 1 winner – and the crowd isn’t happy.

Dong Hyun Kim vs. John Hathaway

Round 1: These guys waste no time banging it out – Kim rocking Hathaway with a pair of big punches, and Hathaway finding joy with some hard knees to the body. A dazed Hathaway manages to tie Kim up against the fence and even get him down, but sloppy stand-up fighting is their destiny, and that’s what they do. With just under two minutes left Kim drops the Brit with a left, and then it’s ground and pound time, with the South Korean dropping fists and an axe-kick to the body.

Round 1 goes to Kim for sure.

Round 2: Despite all the punishment he took in the first, Hathaway comes out the fresher fighter, and he’s the aggressor in the second frame. His clinching and takedown attempts are met with the brick wall of Kim’s judo credentials, but he lands quite a bit more on the feet. With about a minute and a half left in the round, Kim tosses him to the canvas and takes charge from side-control, dropping elbows and fists.

Round 2 probably goes to Kim for that last minute and a half of tough love.

Round 3: And just like that, it’s over. Hathaway comes out and steps forward throwing an elbow, and Kim dodges it, spins, and lands an elbow of his own right on the sweet spot. The Brit drops, completely out cold. Wow!